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September 23, 2004Remembering the barnsByRecord-Eagle staff writer To many people, they're just picturesque old barns overlooking the west side of Traverse City. But Joan Julin found a group of men, mostly in their 80s or 90s, for whom the barns at the Grand Traverse Commons are part of their histories. She videotaped "The Way it Was," a two-part series of interviews conducted by TV personality Rita Melotti with seven men who worked there. The men talk about their experiences working at the barns that were part of the old state hospital. Some of them earned $35 a month, working with hospital patients and tilling the field with horses. The interviews will air in two parts on public access cable station tctv2 four times in October. Julin, who works at the station, taped the project a year ago after Emmy Lou Cholak of the Rolling Centuries Historical Farm Committee asked her to. The project had nothing to do with the station and Julin did all of the shooting and editing with her own equipment. Julin was struck by how emotionally connected the men were with the barns. "The people who worked there are passionate about them," she said. "There are always tears. The men are always crying at the end." The tape was to be a fund-raiser to benefit the barns, but those plans never materialized, Julin said. So she submitted the tapes to air this fall in hopes of informing people about the property prior to the Nov. 2 election. The barns and the property containing them comprise one of three sites that would be affected by a pair of funding proposals. They are a $6.65 million bond issue and a property tax levy of some $125,000 per year in Traverse City and Garfield Township to buy, maintain or protect open, wild and scenic properties. Julin said the video provides perspective on the barns through reminiscences about their part in history when the surrounding area - which is now built up with large stores and subdivisions - was primarily fields, swamps, woods and farmlands. Elmer Allgaier tells about working for unimaginably low wages by today's standards, but also receiving room, board and meals. Former cook Julius Stricker describes how 125 pies were made daily for the work crew. Melvin Gee recalls visiting the barns while his uncle worked there. And Glen Rice discusses a snow-plowing horse that was blind in one eye. The first part of the program will premiere on Sunday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m. on local cable channel 2. The second part airs at 10 p.m. that day. They will be replayed on Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7 and 8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 23, at 7 and 8 p.m.; and on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
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